Aseptic drinking-cup holder.



J. B. HALLIGANJ ASEPTIC DRINKING CUP HOLDER.

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' JOHN HALLIGAN, OF SMOKY ORDINARY, VIRGINIA.

ASEPTIG DRINKING-CUP Romania Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 22, 1914. Serial No. 852,?34.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. HALLIGAN, I

citizen of the United States,-residing at Smoky Ordinary, in the county of Brunswick'and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aseptic Drinking-Cup Holders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 'appertains to make and use the same. i

The present invention is a sanitary'cup holder consisting of a tank filled with harmless antiseptic fluid, non-poisonous and noncorrosive, which makes the drinking cups aseptic and safe to use in schools, hotels, depots, trains, or any place where the common drinking cup is now used.

One object of this invention is to prevent the spread of such contagious diseases as are now disseminated by the common drinking cup, viz: consumption, syphilis, diphtheria, la grippe, and others. .7

Another object is to produce a cup or glass holder of this kind which is itself a rack having provisions for preventing the acci'-- dental spilling of the antiseptic solution or jarring the glasses out of the same, adapted for the reception of glasses of various sizes, and covered over so that nsects and dust may not get into the solution.

These objects are carried out by constructing the holder in the manner hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of this holder complete, and showing two glasses in place and one removed. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view.

lVhile I have shown this holder as adapted to contain three glasses for general'use,

which-number is sufhcient for a smalls1ze which is by preference of some metal, enameled whlte or the like, although it could be of glass or othenpottery or china; and by preference this casing has its side walls convergmgshghtly toward the top; and'the latter, numbere'dQ, may be made removable if desired and is pierced'with holes 3 each having a surrounding down-turned flange 4. In order that the casing may beheld rigidly upon a tabletop or wherever it is placed, it is provided with'ears 5 through which screws 6 may pass into the table or into the'top of a stand on which the water cooler rests; al-

though it is not beyond the spirit of my inventlon that the drinking cup holder could be mounted-on a base of its own. Along the Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

length-of the casing and near but slightly above the bottom thereof extends a pipe 7 havlng its ends 8 opening through the end walls of thecasing and secured thereto in a water-tight manner, a'nd rising at-intervals from this pipe are upright pipes '9 connected 4 l to the main pipe by T-couplings or in any suitable water-tight manner, the upper ends of the pipes 9 standing centrally within the holes 3 and rising-to a level above the top 2. If the casingbe made of metal, its seams should bewater-tight and its top or cover may be hinged, although I'have not con-' sidered it necessary to illustrate this detail." Also 1t may be provided with a draw-off opening closed by a plug or otherwise, in

order that access 'to its interior may be had.

However, as thecasing is made removable from the table by means of the ears and would be to omit the draw-off openingand screws, a simpler form of the invention have the cover removable bodily; and then when the device is to be cleansed it can'be unscrewed and replaced by another, while the soiled casing is} carried to a suitable point and boiled or otherwise cleaned internally and externally.

Within the casing is a solution composed. of onepart of hydro-naphthol to two thou- This makes a non-poisonous antiseptic which is fifteen times as strong as poisonous car bolic acid solution, and the dilute hydronaphthol is almost tasteless, non-inflatamable, non-injurious to the person or clothsand parts of water, preferably rain water.

ing of anyone, pleasant to the taste and smell, and possesses aseptic or antiseptic qualities to a high degree. While I'prefer this solution, I do not wish to be limited thereto. The casing is filled with said solution nearly to its top, and of course surrounds the pipes but does not get into them.

The manner of use of this device is quite obvious. The glasses or drinking cups are used by the school children or others in the ordinary manner, and as there is no rack for them they are, by reason of directions attached to the casing or elsewhere, turned over to the casing and passed through the holes 3 thereof down onto the main pipe. When the mouth of cup rests on this pipe it is raised above the bottom of the casing, and the bottom of the cup projects through the hole .3 and rises for a sul'licient distance to permit the next drinker to grasp it and remove it from the hole. The insertion of the cup traps a certain amount of air within it, but this air is forced down one of the pipes 9, through the T, and out one end 8 of the main pipe 7, so that the level of the liquid within the casing is not depressed by the insertion of a cup. lvloreover, this pipe system permits the free flow of air throughout the same and into the cups above the liquid level therein. Obviously the walls of the cups are internally and externally in constant contact with the aseptic liquid, and when the cup is again to be used it is grasped and drawn out of place (air rushing in through the pipe system as will be clear) and used in the ordinary manner.

The reason I prefer the solution above described is because a cup can be taken from the holder and immediately used without any injurious or unpleasant effects to the child who uses it. No insects or dust can accumulate on the cups excepting on the outside of the bottom which is exposed, and that would not be injurious or harmful to a user. Nor can such extraneous matter get into the antiseptic solution when the cups or glasses are in place, because they fill the holes in the cover 2. In case the stand upon which this device is mounted should receive an accidental jar, the solution would not be spilled from the casing because of the depending flanges. lhe air pipes 9 are purposely caused to rise to points above the cover, so that if any glass should be shorter than standard height its bottom would be supported by the upper end of a pipe andin position to be grasped by the user. When this device is made of white enamel material it is an ornament to the school room, hall way, or whatever point is selected for the water cooler, and if the cups are of glass it will prevent their becoming broken by being accidentally knocked off a rack. I would make the holes 3 of the standard size so as to receive an ordinary tumbler or glass, and it is quite obvious that anything smaller than one of ordinary size may be inserted and rendered aseptic, even though it be so short that its bottom rests on the upper end of the pipe Qwhich will therefore support it in position to be grasped and Withdrawn.

lVhat is claimed as new is l. The herein described drinking glass holder comprising a substantially rectangu lar casing having a fiat bottom with ears extending from its ends and pierced for the reception of fastening screws, converging side walls and upright end walls, and a flat top provided with a series of holes; a main air pipe extending along the length of said casing on a line nearer said top than the height of the usual glass and opening at its ends through said end walls, and a series of upright pipes risin from said main pipe through said holes, or the purpose set forth.

2. The herein described drinking glass holder comprising a substantially rectangular water-tight casing having a flat top provided with a hole surrounded by a flange. means for securing said casing upon a support, and an air pipe leading from a point above the level of said top downward, through the center of said hole, and thence horizontally through the side wall of said casing, the horizontal portion of said pipe being nearer the top of the casing than the height of the'usual glass, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. HALLIGAN.

Witnesses J. B. LASHLEY, J. E. SNOW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

